Leadership of The Guidance Center articulated the dream in the beginning of 2012 — consolidate all its Long Beach operations into one building, thereby becoming more efficient and providing more counseling to the area’s children.

It took 18 months and a lot of help from a lot of sources, but the dream has become reality. The Guidance Center employees began moving into their new home at Anaheim Street and Pine Avenue last month, and today will hold a grand opening ceremony.

The two-story building, now painted a bright green, once was home to the Long Beach Rescue Mission’s thrift store.

“We’re still moving in,” Executive Director Patricia Costales said recently as she moved around boxes. “But we’re simply thrilled. Before this, we had four Long Beach locations, with the headquarters and main clinic at two locations in Bixby Knolls.”

The Guidance Center was founded in 1946 as a nonprofit offering mental health services to youths 18 and younger. It has grown steadily over the years, and now serves more than 2,500 children and employs 140 people.

Most therapy takes place off-site, Costales said, with services in Compton, Catalina Island, San Pedro, 18 schools in Paramount and more than 40 schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. But there still is plenty of need for services in group and clinical settings, and all those therapists and program administrators need a place to call home — and do their paperwork.

“It was very difficult to find a location,” Costales said. “The board had made the determination that we wanted to be where our clients are, and that is largely is central Long Beach. This was a hot spot. But we couldn’t afford the building.”

Costales credits a creative approach by developer Urban Offerings and George Medak for the deal that provided The Guidance Center with a new home. They brokered a deal moving the Long Beach Rescue Mission operations to the then-vacant West Coast Choppers building further west on Anaheim Street, purchased the building at Pine and Anaheim, then leased it back to The Guidance Center for 10 years with an option to buy.

“The place had drop ceilings, but they were falling down,” Costales said. “The second floor wasn’t being used, and was in disrepair. They asked us what we wanted to see, and we said, ‘something fun and inviting for the children.’ Boy, did they ever deliver.”

The building interior now sports an open industrial look, with two-story high ceilings, exposed ductwork, orange supporting beams and unfinished cement interior walls for many corridors. Walls creating meeting rooms or office spaces are painted bright blues, greens and oranges, and the building exterior boldly announces its presence with a lime green that can be seen blocks away.

“We really wanted to be part of the community, and we’ve added meeting rooms and gathering places we hope the neighborhood will use,” Costales said. “I wanted people to be able to walk here. “? The first day we were open and seeing clients, I went to the lobby and saw two youngsters riding their tricycles. At first, I thought, ‘What are they doing to our brand new carpet?’ Then I realized this meant they walked here.

“We’ll be putting in a bike rack, but I won’t be complaining about a tricycle.”

Most of The Guidance Center’s clients are referred to them through schools or child protective services. Costales said the partnership with LBUSD has been beneficial, with the school district open to many programs. A strong partnership also continues with Miller Children’s Hospital at Memorial Medical Center, where the Guidance Center was located before moving to Bixby Knolls.

Most of the money to operate comes from government contracts and grants, largely through the Los Angeles County Department of Health. But the center provides services to the public and is trying to expand its public support, Costales said. They will host the third annual Sunset Sip fundraiser later this fall, and are accepting donations at tgclb.org.

The grand opening ceremony will be held 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the center, 1301 Pine Ave., Long Beach. Anyone who thinks their child needs help should call The Guidance Center intake line at 562-595-1159, where trained clinicians are ready to help determine what needs to be done.

Harry Saltzgaver is executive editor of Gazette Newspapers. He can be reached at hsalt@gazettes.com.